Calendar watch setting mechanism for various month lengths

ABSTRACT

A mechanism for setting the date-indicating indicia on a calendar watch including a date-setting mechanism having an inactive position and at least one first active position, said setting mechanism causing the date-indicating indicia to advance by one step into the first active position immediately after the date-indicating mechanism has been brought to a position corresponding to the date &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;31.

United States Patent [1 1 Kocher [451 Aug. 7, 1973 CALENDAR WATCHSETTING MECHANISM FOR VARIOUS MONTH LENGTHS [76] Inventor: Hans Kocher,Erlenweg 24, 3294 Buren a/Aare, Switzerland [22], Filed: Mar. 13, 1972[21'] Appl. No.: 234,288

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 7, 1971 Switzerlandm-5078/71 [52] US. Cl. 58/58 [51] Int. Cl. G04h19/24 [58] Field of Search58/4,5, 58

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,286,000 6/1942 Neyhart58/5 203,640 5/1878 Paddock 58/58 563,268 7/1896 Fazel 58/58 2,483,77510/1949 K1aris.. 58/5 2,709,885 6/1955 Van Kam 58/5 3,373,558 3/1968Makiri 58/58 X Primary ExaminerGeorge H. Miller, Jr.

1 Attorney-Richard K. Stevens, Davidson C. Miller et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT A mechanism'for setting the date-indicating indicia on acalendar watch' including a date-setting mechanism having an inactiveposition and at least one first active position, said setting mechanismcausing the date- 7 indicating indicia to advance by one step into thefirst active position immediately after the date-indicating mechanismhas been brought to a position correspond- 1 ing to the date 31. I

12 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures BATENTEDAU: 7 m;

SHEET 1 [IF 7 I PATENTED RUB 7 I975 SHEEI 2 [IF 7 mN N- wdm 'PAIENTEDAUB 11915 3,750,385

SHEET u (If 7 PATENTED AUB 7 I975 SHEET 5 (IF 7 CALENDAR WATCH SETTINGMECHANISM FOR VARIOUS MONTH LENGTHS Presently known calendar-watchesinvolve either of the two following drawbacks: they are difficult toregulate and complicated, or else they require the user to correct thewatch at the end of any month having less than 31' days. The vastmajority of calendar-watches presently known involve the latterdrawback. Date correction may be effected by placing the winding crownin the hand-setting position and by imparting a motion to the hour-handsuch that it revolves twice around the dial. The date-indicating memberis then driven by the calendar mechanism and so causes the date l toappear if the correction is made when the date 3 l is visible. It isobvious that such date-setting by means of the calendar-member takestime and is irksome. Depending upon the year, at the end of February,the hourhand must be driven three or four times through 24- hours ofrevolution.

Attempts have been undertaken to simplify the datesetting operation byproviding contemporary calendarwatches with a fast correction mechanismoperating either by means of a push-piece or by an additional crown oralso by the winding-crown which then may assume a third axial positionfrom which different settings become possible.

However, such known mechanisms do not exempt the user from thecorrection setting on the first of the month if the previous one hadless than 31 days or on the last day of those months of fewer than 31days.

Special watches are also known, of which the calendar is so designed asto stay up-to-date for several years. However such watches are providedwith mechanisms of a complicated nature and for instance comprise a camof essentially circular shape and so activated by the movement as tocomplete one revolution every four years. This cam is. provided on itsperiphery with 48 notches each corresponding to. one of the months ofthe 4-year period under consideration; the depth of each notchdetermines the time and the extent of the date-setting effected by thecalendar indicating member.

The purpose of the present invention is to create a calendar watch nolonger requiring its user to set the date at the end of those monthswith fewer than 31 days and lacking complexities such as would preventwidespread marketing.

To that end, the object of the present invention is a watch with acalendar mechanism comprising a dateindicating mechanism and a commutingmember driven by the movement and activating said indicating memberevery 24 hours. It is characterized by an automatic date-settingmechanism with an inactive position and at least one first activeposition, said date-setting mechanism causing the indicating member tomove forward by one step into the first active position immediatelyafter the indicating member has been brought into the positioncorresponding to the date 31 by the commuting member.

Therefore the automatic correction mechanism may be previouslyprogrammedand its adjustment is less complex than'that of the perpetual calendarwatches mentioned above.

The attached drawing provides as illustrative examples three embodimentsof the watch according to the invention. I V

FIG. 1 is a plan top view of the date setting mechanism according to thefirst embodiment,

FIG. 2 is a section on a larger scale, along line IIII of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1, showing a second position ofthe date-setting mechanism,

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 for the second embodiment,

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section of a detail of the second embodiment,along line V-V of FIG. 4, on a larger scale,

' FIG. 6 is a view of the second embodiment in another active position,g

FIG. 7 is a view analogous to FIG. 1, for the third embodiment,

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary section on a larger scale of a detail of thethird embodiment and FIG. 9 is an over-all view of the watch accordingto the first and third embodiments.

FIG. I shows a wrist-watch movement, the bottomplate of which holds adate-indicating ring 2 co-axial with the bottom-plate. and activatedevery 24 hours by a commuting member 3 itself provided with a radialfinger-piece 4 engaging the toothing 5 of the dateindicating ring. Thecommuting member 3 pivots round a fixed axis; itshub is mounted on acollet of bottomplate 1 as shown in FIG. 2 and is driven by settingwheel6 and wheel-and-pinion 7 from the hour-wheel 8 which is normallyemplaced at the center of the movement. As seen from FIG. 2, thishour-wheel is fastened on cannon-pinion 9. The wheel-and-pinion 7comprises two co-axial toothings, the lower one of a diameter half theupper ones, so that commuting member 3 rotates at the rate of onerevolution every 24 hours. Setting wheel 6'and wheel-and-pinion 7 areprovided with central openings fastened on corresponding collets in thebottom-plate or on the pegs fastened to this frame element. Plate 10(not shown in FIG. 1) extends above setting-wheel 6 and in between thetwo toothings of wheel-and-pinion'7 so as to maintain those members inplace axially. As regards the commuting member 3, it is axially retainedin place by a control plate 12 of circular periphery and co-axiallylocated with respect to member 2 above the date setting mechanismimminently to be described rather than being axially retained in placeby the stepped screw 11.

Screws l1 and 13 the latter diametrically opposed to the former and alsoscrewed into the bottom-plate 1 so maintain in place the command member12 that the latter may be rotationally displaced between two positionsdefined by the end of slots 14 and 15 through which pass the shouldersof screws 11 and 13. The shoulders of these screws are so adjusted thatplate 12 may freely rotate about its axis. A spring 16 pushing on a pin17 constantly pulls on plate 12 towards the position shown in FIG. 3,i.e., towards the inactive position. On the other hand, when in theposition shown in FIG. 1, namely the active position, plate 12 is heldback by one of the three arms of star 18 which functions in concert withpin 19 which in turn is mounted on plate 12. A six-teeth ratchet wheelganged to star 18 and functioning in concert with the inside end of thepush-piece 20 allows step wise rotation of this star 60 degrees at atime so that pin 19 alternately is located at the end of one of the armsof star 18.or in'the hollow between two of those arms, so that plate 12alternately passes from the active position to the inactive one. Duringthis to-and-fro motion, plate 12 moves a control lever 21 which islocated in a recess of bottom plate 1 and the inside end of whichsupports a peg 22; date-setting member 23 which rotates about peg 22 isprovided with a radial finger-peg provided by the bottomplate; this pegat the same time serves as a pivot axis for a setting-wheel 25connecting the commuting member 3 to date-setting member 23, so thatthese two members are constantly engaging one another even though thedate-setting member moves in accordance with the position changes oflever 21. Because of the existence of setting wheel 25, both members 3and 23 obviously rotate at the same speed. Both are located at the sameheight and when control member 12 is in the active position, bothsuccessively mesh in with the toothing of member 2 at about 2-2 h hourintervals. On the other hand, when control member 12 is in the inactiveposition, the edge of hollow 26 where peg 22 is located as shown in theposition of FIG. 1 forces lever 21 to move by shifting the date-settingdisc 23 inwards; then the circular edge of the inside opening of plate12 will lock lever 21 into its inactive position.

When in that position, member 23 will continue rotating about itself andtherefore it remains oriented in the same manner with respect tocommuting member 3 without however activating anything.

Prior to the explanation of the mechanism embodied in this manner, itshould be mentioned that the setting wheel 25 is axially kept in placeby bar 27, that the setting-lever spring 28 ensures the normal positionof the date member, and that, finally, spring 29 located underneath thedate ring pulls on lever 21 in such direction that date-setting organ 23constantly will tend to engage the toothing of the date ring.

In order to understand the operation of the described mechanism, it isenough to consider that in the position shown in FIG. 1, the controlmember 12 is in the active position and that the position of date ring 2is such that the date 31 has just appeared in the dial window. This isso because finger piece 4 has just pushed one of the teeth to the pointwhere jumper 28, passing above the top of a tooth, has brought ring 2into a new stop position. The finger-piece 24 of date-setting member 23has not yet reached that radial position in which it will enmesh thedate-ring toothing.

Now, when the date member has reached the position corresponding to thedate 3 l the notch 30 with .which the date member is provided at itsperiphery has reached roller 31 which is mounted on ajournal at theouter end of lever 21. Under the influence of spring 29, this leverwhich so far had been kept in the inactive position because of thepressure of roller 31 upon the periphery of ring 2 and this despite thefact notch 26 was opposite pin 22 will so rotate as to cause fingerpiece24 to occupy the path of toothing 5. After some 2-2% hours, thedate-ring therefore will be again driven by one step, and this willbring the date I opposite the window. When the plate 12 is in thisactive position, the transition from date 30 to date 1" thereforeautomatically occurs within a matter of hours.

In order to indicate this active position of the control organ, thelatter may bear the numbers 30 and 31, one corresponding to the activeposition and the other to the inactive position, and these numbers maysuccessively appear in a window 32 shown in FIG. 9 and located at 6oclock.

It is obvious that if no manipulation took place, the date-settingmechanism will be in the same location when the date 30" reappears inthe date window, and that engaging pin 31 into notch 30 will cause atwojump date step from the position corresponding to 30 to thatcorresponding to I." To avoid such error, one must, during the monthinterval, push once upon push-piece 20 in order to bring plate 12, underthe influence of spring 16, into its inactive position (FIG. 3). Thedisplacement of notch 26 then ensures locking lever 21 in the positionshown in FIG. 3, so that the next month, the date-setting member shallbe inactive and shall allow the date 31 to appear for 24 consecutivehours.

As seen in FIG. 1, and also in FIG. 9, push-piece 20 may be located at 2oclock, the winding stem at 4 oclock and the latter also bearing crown33. The date window 34 in that case may be located at 3 oclock.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 show an embodiment generically conceived from the sameprinciple but allowing the programming of date-setting not only for theend of a month of 30 days but also forthe end of February when holding28 days or when holding 29 days in leap years. This embodiment againcomprises date ring 2 and commuting member 3 with its finger piece 4functioning in concert with toothing 5 of ring '2. Again this embodimentcomprises jumper 28 and setting-wheel 6, wheeland-pinion transmission 7ensuring reduction in the ratio of 2 to l, and hour wheel 8. On theother hand, control member 12 has been replaced by a circular plate 35which though axially retained in place by the two screws 11 and 13engaging the clearances 14 and 15 may be subject to a rotational shiftof much larger amplitude than plate 12, the two recesses 14 and 15 beinglonger. Furthermore, the contour of the cen tral opening of plate 35 isprovided with three notches 36, 37 and 38 between which extend twosegments in the shape of arcs of circle of the same radius rather thanthe single notch 26 of plate 12. The whole of this profiled contoursection of the central opening of plate 35 is bounded by two nearlyradial segments acting as stops.

On the other hand, in lieu of a control lever such as lever 21, themechanism now comprises three levers 39, 40 and 41 each provided at itsinward end with one of the three date-setting members 42, 43 and 44.These levers each pivot round an axis coinciding with that of thesetting wheels 45, 46 and 47. Further, each of the three levers 39, 40and 41 carries a roller 48, 49 or 50 at its outward end and is pulled bya spring 51, 52 and 53 in such manner that this roller pushes againstthe periphery of ring 2.

The control member 35 is ganged to a toothed sector 54 which meshes witha setting wheel 55 itself co-axial with screw 13. In lieu of beingcontrolled by push-piece 20, this member is controlled by a stem 56 andpinions 57 and 58, the latter meshing in with the setting wheel 55. Thespring pawl 59 ensures achieving the four angular positionscorresponding, the first to the inactive position, the second to thefirst active position in which it is the axis of date-setting member 42that may engage hollow 36, the third (shown in FIG. 4) corresponding tothe second active position in which the date-setting member 43 is in aposition to engage toothing 5 because its axis has entered notch 37, andthe fourth (FIG. 6) corresponding to the third active position in whichit is the date-setting member 44, that has approached toothing 5. Itwill be observed that in each of the active positions, only one of thedate-setting members may approach toothing 5, the other two being keptin the inactive positions by arcuate sections of the central opening ofplate 35.

The desired date-setting operations are effected with the three hollows60,61 and 62 in the date-ring periphery; they function in concert withrollers 48, 49 and 50 and with finger-pieces mounted on the date-settingmembers. Indeed one may notice that member 42 is provided with afinger-piece 42a, member 43 with two finger-pieces 43a and 43b, andmember 44 with three finger-pieces 44a, 44b and 44c.

In order to emplace in operational position the datesetting organappropriate for each case, the exterior edge of date ring 2 is profiledas illustratively shown in FIG. 5, which shows a cross-section throughthis ring and further shows lever 41 with its roller 50 pushing againstthis ring 2. The section of ring 2 shows two fairly deep groovesdefining three parallel ribs. These window each one day apart. The nextmonth, one will have to move plate 35 in such fashion that the springpawl 59 will be brought into its second notch. Therefore, it shall bethe axle of the date-setting member 42 which will be opposite notch 36,and when the date 31 shall appearin the window, roller 48 will drop intothe ribs stretch along the entire periphery of the ring, but

the hollow 62 is machined in the upper rib, hollow 61 in the middle riband hollow 60 in the lower rib; As regards rollers 48, 49 and 50, theyare mounted on reduced diameter axles and are'each located at theparticular height of one of the three ribs. Thus, during a completerotation of ring 2, that command lever carrying a date-setting organ theaxis of which is opposite one ofthe notches 36, 37 and 38 may move underthe influence of its spring and bring the date-setting organ near thetoothing 5, but such motion may only occur when the hollow machined inthe rib corresponding to the roller of this lever shall have reached aposition allowing such motion. It will be observed that the hollows 60,61 and 62 are of different lengths. The angular length of hollow 60corresponds to a double pitch of toothing 5, that of hollow 61 to atriple pitch and that of hollow 62 to a four-fold pitch.,lt should beclear that during the 24 hours ensuing the instant when the lever rolleris freed by member 35 and penetrates the notch of the rib with which itworks in concert, the date ring will be commuted by a pitch number equalto the number of finger-pieces plus one of the date-setting member thusemplaced in active position. Indeed, shortly after the commutationcontroled by member 3 has brought this lever, for instance lever 40 asapplies to the situation shown in the drawing, into the opening of notch61, the finger-pieces of the corresponding datesetting organ member 43for the example selected will successively mesh in at approximately 2-2%hour intervals with the date ring and will cause it to advance by adouble pitch of its toothing. Notch 61 obviously is so located thatroller 49 shall enter it during the commutation that switches theindicator from 29 to 30; therefore the two ensuing jumps induced bymember 43 shall finally cause the date 1 to appear in the window. Thisis therefore the situation which holds when passing from 29 February tol March in leap year. At the end of the 24 hour period followingintroduction of roller 49 into hollow 61, the commutation finger-piece 4again engages toothing 5 and cuases the date ring to advance, so thatthe end of hollow 61 will again lift roller 49 and disengagedate-setting member 43 from the date-ring. In the course of the next 31days, the user of the watch must activate stem 56 so as to rotate thecontrol member 35. in the clockwise sense as shown in FIG. 3; this willbring the peg of springpawl 59 into the front end of notch 60.Approximately 2% hours after this commutation, finger-piece 42a willagain come and activate the date ring and will immediately cause date 1"to appear in the window.

As in the first described embodiment, plate 35 may be provided withindex marks appearing in a secondary window which corresponds to window32 and allowing the user to know at any time how the correctionmechanism is programmed. Such index marks may consist in showing thefour dates of 28, 2 9, 30 and 31 as borne on plate 35 and shown in FIGS.4 and 6; one of those dates appears in the secondary window, which, inthis instance, is located at 12 0clock according to the position ofplate 35. Of course, one may also provide other symbols to theguser, inlieu of the four mentioned dates for the desired indication.

Therefore s-mssha ismr ho in GS- ihr g 6 allows program ming in advancethe date-correction; this applies to all possible cases, whereas themechanism of the first embodiment could only be used for months of 30and 31 days and required a manual correction at the end of the months ofFebruary.

Nevertheless, the mechanism of FIGS. 4 through 6 represents an arrayquite analogous to that of FIG. 1 and particularly, its heightrequirement is of the same order. In lieu of rollers fastened to theends of the control levers and stretching more than half the height ofthe date ring, as for roller 31, these rollers are of little height andlocated at the level of the rib they work in concert with.

In the two embodiments described so far, the normal commutationperformed every 24 hours and the datesetting commutation too take placefairly slowly since they are controlled by wheels completing onerevolution a day and provided with finger-pieces ganged to them. Theembodiment shown in FIG. 7 however illustrates instantaneousdate-setting. In this embodiment, date-ring 2 is fastened to bottomplate 1 in the same manner as in the other embodiments, and its toothing5 functions in concert with commutation member 3 which is provided witha rigid finger-piece 4 and pivots about a fixed peg; screw 11 is atthecenter of this peg; the screw shoulder guides control plate 63 which isalso guided by the shoulder of screw 13 and may rotate to the extent ofthe two positions defined by the ends of slots 14 and 15. Thisembodiment therefore is similar to the first one as regards thepossibilities it offers, since it allows only programming automaticcommutation from the date 30" to the first of the next month.

The alternate displacements of plate 63 are controlled by a star 18identical with the one shown in FIG. 1; this star is ganged to asix-tooth ratchet wheel activated by push-piece 20. Pin 19 will take aposition either at the end of one of the arms of star 18, or in thehollow between two of those arms; under the influence of spring 16pushing against pin 17, plate 63 rotates counter-clockwise before it isbrought back by spring 16 to the position shown in solid lines in FIG.after a new pressure has beenapplied to push-piece 20.

The commuting member 3 also is driven by the intermediary of settingwheel 6 and wheel-and-pinion 7; the latter itself is driven byhour-wheel 8 and thus causes a reduction in the ratio of 2 to 1, so thatthe commuting member rotates at one revolution every 24 hours. Avariation provides for a different way of driving this commuting organ:particularly, the toothing might have a diameter twice that of a wheeldirectly fastened upon the hour-wheel and the toothing might directlymesh in with such wheel. In some cases, the commuting member 3 mightalso be provided with a device ensuring immediate jumping of date member2.

To ensure automatic date-setting, the mechanism shown in FIG. 7comprises a lever 64 pivoting at one of its ends around a peg co-axialwith screw 13; a pin 65 is fastened to the other end of lever 64, andthis pin may function in concert with a date-setting tooth 66 ganged todate ring 2 and located below the normal toothing 5 Preferably thistooth will be fastened by screwing or by driving in or by soldering andit will be the only inward projecting element along the entire peripheryof date ring 2, at the level of which it is located (FIG. 8).

Between those two ends, lever 64 bears a pin 67 engaging an elongatedopening from a cam 68 which is mounted in pivotable fashion upon a pegganged to the bottom-plate. This cam is provided with a lug itselfprovided with radial flank under the influence of a spring 69. This camalso supports a pivoting finger-piece 70 which is being pulled by aspring 71 and located at the level of toothing 5 and very near it. Whencam 68 rotates clockwise round its axis, pawl 70 may pull out of the wayby gliding on the teeth of toothing 5; but when the cam rotatescounter-clockwise, the pawl front end can grip a tooth of toothing 5 andcause ring 2 to advance sufficiently for jumper 28 to jump above the topof a tooth; then jumper 28 ensures the advance of the date member by anamount corresponding to one pitch of its toothing.

It will be observed that, pin 67 being connected to cam 68 at a pointlocated between the pivoting axes of lever and cam, the latter will moveclockwise if the lever moves counter-clockwise and vice-versa. Under theinfluence of spring 69, the cam will tend to rotate counter-clockwise,therefore driving the lever clockwise, and consequently tends to keepthe lever against the stop formed by peg 72 which is fastened to plate63. When that plate is in the position shown in FIG. 7, that is, in theactive position, the pin 65 fixed to the end of lever 64 is in the pathof tooth 66. Thus, when finger-piece 4 commutes the date ring by onepitch starting from the position shown in solid lines in the drawing soas to cause the date 3 l to appear in the window, tooth 66 drives lever64 and cam 68 against spring action of spring 69. Pin 65 describes anarcuate path centered upon the axis of screw 13, deviating towards theinside of toothing 5; in that manner pin 65 passes above tooth 65 beforethe date ring has reached its new position corresponding to the date31." The cam pivots round its axis and in the clockwise sense so as tocause pawl 70 to pass above one of the teeth 5; it is then released andspring 69 will then bring back cam 68 and lever 64 to their initialpositions shown in solid lines in the drawing. However, pawl 70 causes anew commutation during this motion; this commutation is instantaneousand affects the datemember, so that the number 1 appears in the window.

In the course of the ensuing month, it shall be necessary to depressonce push-piece 20; this will cause plate 63 to reach the position shownin dotted lines in the drawing under the influence of spring 16. Duringthis motion, peg 72 will lift lever 64, pivot clockwise cam 68 againstthe action of spring 69, and it will keep those members in the. positionshown in dashed lines in the drawing. One sees the peg 65 then isentirely within the path described by correction tooth 66. In thatposition, commutation'member 3 may cause date ring 2 to perform acomplete revolution around its axis without mechanism 64, 68, 70 beingactivated. In the course of the next month of 30 days, the usertherefore will have to depress once push-piece 20 in order to bring themechanism back into active position.

Both plates 63 and 12 bear date indications 30 and 31; these may appearin an auxiliary window located at 12 oclock and constantly indicating tothe user how the watch is programmed. In such a case too, theindications 30 and 31 the principle of its mechanism might also beapplied to an automatic commuting mechanism from the 29th to the lst orfrom the 30th to the lst, according to the control member position.

The mechanisms described above do not require the user to effect'hiswatchs date-setting at a given time, that is, at the end of every monthof fewer than 31 days; on the contrary, they allow him to program thisdatesetting for a time convenient to him.

As was seen, such mechanisms may be reduced to practice so as to ensureinstantaneous commutation. Further, in other embodiments, one may sofashion the date-setting mechanism that it automatically will return tothe inactive position the moment the date-setting organ(s) has (have)operated. For in such case it would no longer be necessary to activatethe programming mechanism except during months of fewer than 31 days.

What is claimed is:

1. In a watch with a calendar mechanism comprising a movement, adate-indicating member and a commuting member driven by said movementand activating said indicating member every 24 hours, the improvementthat comprises a date-setting mechanism provided with an inactiveposition and at least one first active position, means extending to theexterior of said watch for manually controlling the movement of saiddate-setting mechanism between said active and inactive positions, saiddate-setting mechanism causing the date-indicating member to advance byone pitch in the first active position of said date-setting mechanismimmediately after the date-indicating member has been brought by thecommuting member into a position corresponding to the date 31.

2. A watch according to claim 1, further characterized in that thedate-setting mechanism .may be put at will into one or another of threeactive positions, where the second one controls a double-pitch advanceofthe date-member the moment this one has reached the positioncorresponding to the date 30, while the third one controls atriple-pitch advance of the date-member the moment this one has reachedthe position corresponding to the date 29.

3. A watch with a calendar mechanism comprising a movement and adate-setting mechanism including a control member provided with aninactive position and at least one active position, a date-indicatingmember and a periodic commuting member driven by said movement andactivating said date indicating member periodically, said date-settingmechanism causing the date-indicating member to advance by one pitch inthe active position of said date-setting mechanism after thedate-indicating member has been brought by the periodic commuting memberinto a position corresponding to a given date, wherein the date-settingmechanism comprises a lever which may be moved round its pivot point bya driving member ganged to the 'date- 1 indicating member so as toachieve a rotational shift against a spring force, one cam bearing adate-setting pawl and functioning in concert with said lever in suchmanner that the cam is brought into the winding position of said springwhen said lever is shifted and will return to its rest position underthe influence of the spring so that the pawl will cause thedate-indicating member to advance by one pitch, and comprises a controlmember coaxial with the date-indicating-member and which may rotatebetween two positions, in one of which it looks the lever and the caminto winding position for said spring, while when in the other position,it brings said lever into the path of. the driving member.

4. A watch according to claim 3, inwhich the control member may assumeonly a single active position and an inactive position, wherein saidcontrol member functions in concert witha star activated into rotationby a push-piece, said star being gangedto a control element functioningin concert with a pin fastened to the control member against a springforce, the whole so behaving that during successive rotations of saidstar, initiated by the push-piece, the control member rotatesalternately to-and-fro between active and inactive positions, andvice-versa.

5. A watch with a calendar mechanism comprising a movement and adate-setting mechanism including a control member provided with aninactive position and at least one active position, a date-indicatingmember and a periodic commuting member driven by said movement andactivating said date-indicating member periodically, said date-settingmechanism causing the date-indicating member to advance by one pitch inthe active position of said date-setting mechanism after thedate-indicating member has been brought by the periodic commuting memberinto a position corresponding to a given date, wherein the date-settingmechanism comprises as many date-setting commuting members as there areactive positions in the control member, each date-setting commutingmember being rotationally driven at a predetermined rate and beingsupported by a control lever functioning in concert with thedateindicating member, the/control member being coaxial with thedate-indicating member, and movable in the sense of rotation so as tooffer a given orientation for each of said positions and being providedwith a contour with as many notches in it as there are control le' versin the mechanism, these notches being so machined as to release thelevers, to which each of them corresponds, in one of said positions ofthe control member.

6. A watch according to claim 5, characterized in that a plurality ofdate-setting commuting members are connected one to another and also toa daily commuting member of the date-indicating member, by means ofsetting-wheels, each one of these pivoting about the pivot axis of acontrol lever.

7. A watch according to claim 5, in which the control member may assumeonly a single active position and an inactive position, wherein saidcontrol member functions in concert with a star activated into rotationby a push-piece, said star being ganged to a control element functioningin concert with a pin fastened to the control member against a springforce, the whole so behaving that during successive rotations of saidstar, initiated by the push-piece, the control member rotatesalternately to-and-fro between active and inactive positions, andvice-versa.

'8. A watchaccording to claim 5, characterized in that the controlmember is provided at its periphery with a toothed sector engaging asetting-wheel controlled by a radial stem projecting from the case andbearing a control crown at its end.

9 9. A watch according to claim 5, further characterized'in that thedate-indicating member is peripherally provided'with indentations thenumber of which corresponds to said control levers, and that each ofsaid control levers bears, at that end opposed to the one on whichpivots the corresponding date-setting commuting member, aroller which iskept pressed against the date-indicating member periphery, so that whenthe indentation corresponding to one of the levers is opposite theroller supported by that lever, the latter may pivot about its axis andbe brought into the active position.

10. A watch according to claim 9, characterized in that thedate-indicating members indentations are located at different levels, sothat each indentation may only control that lever to which itcorresponds.

11. A watch according to claim 5, characterized in that eachdate-setting commuting member is provided with a number of finger-pieceswhich is equal to the pitch-number by which the date-setting commutingmember must cause the date-indicating member to advance when the formeris in the active position.

12. A watch according to claim 11, characterized in that thefinger-pieces of each date-setting commuting member function in concertwith the same toothing as a firiger-piece of the periodic commutingpiece of the calendar mechanism.

1. In a watch with a calendar mechanism comprising a movement, adate-indicating member and a commuting member driven by said movementand activating said indicating member every 24 hours, the improvementthat comprises a date-setting mechanism provided with an inactiveposition and at least one first active position, means extending to theexterior of said watch for manually controlling the movement of saiddate-setting mechanism between said active and inactive positions, saiddate-setting mechanism causing the date-indicating member to advance byone pitch in the first active position of said date-setting mechanismimmediately after the date-indicating member has been brought by thecommuting member into a position corresponding to the date ''''31.''''2. A watch according to claim 1, further characterized in that thedate-setting mechanism may be put at will into one or another of threeactive positions, where the second one controls a double-pitch advanceof the date-member the moment this one has reached the positioncorresponding to the date 30, while the third one controls atriple-pitch advance of the date-member the moment this one has reachedthe position corresponding to the date
 29. 3. A watch with a calendarmechanism comprising a movement and a date-setting mechanism including acontrol member provided with an inactive position and at least oneactive position, a date-indicating member and a periodic commutingmember driven by said movement and activating said date indicatingmember periodically, said date-setting mechanism causing thedate-indicating member to advance by one pitch in the active position ofsaid date-setting mechanism after the date-indicating member has beenbrought by the periodic commuting member into a position correspondingto a given date, wherein the date-setting mechanism comprises a leverwhich may be moved round its pivot point by a driving member ganged tothe date-indicating member so as to achieve a rotational shift against aspring force, one cam bearing a date-setting pawl and functioning inconcert with said lever in such manner that the cam is brought into thewinding position of said spring when said lever is shifted and willreturn to its rest position under the influence of the spring so thatthe pawl will cause the date-indicating member to advance by one pitch,and comprises a control member coaxial with the date-indicating memberand which may rotate between two positions, in one of which it locks thelever and the cam into winding position for said spring, while when inthe other position, it brings said lever into the path of the drivingmember.
 4. A watch according to claim 3, in which the control member mayassume only a single active position and an inactive position, whereinsaid control member functions in concert with a star activated intorotation by a push-piece, said star being ganged to a control elementfunctioning in concert with a pin fastened to the control member againsta spring force, the whole so behaving that during successive rotationsof said star, initiated by the push-piece, the control member rotatesalternately to-and-fro between active and inactive positions, andvice-versa.
 5. A watch with a calendar mechanism comprising a movementand a date-setting mechanism including a control member provided with aninactive position and at least one active position, a date-indicatingmember and a periodic commuting member driven by said movement andactivating said date-indicating member periodically, said date-settingmechanism causing the date-indicating member to advance by one pitch inthe active position of said date-setting mechanism after thedate-indicating member has been brought by the periodic commuting memberinto a position corresponding to a given date, wherein the date-settingmechanism comprises as many date-setting commuting members as there areactive positions in the control membeR, each date-setting commutingmember being rotationally driven at a predetermined rate and beingsupported by a control lever functioning in concert with thedate-indicating member, the control member being coaxial with thedate-indicating member, and movable in the sense of rotation so as tooffer a given orientation for each of said positions and being providedwith a contour with as many notches in it as there are control levers inthe mechanism, these notches being so machined as to release the levers,to which each of them corresponds, in one of said positions of thecontrol member.
 6. A watch according to claim 5, characterized in that aplurality of date-setting commuting members are connected one to anotherand also to a daily commuting member of the date-indicating member, bymeans of setting-wheels, each one of these pivoting about the pivot axisof a control lever.
 7. A watch according to claim 5, in which thecontrol member may assume only a single active position and an inactiveposition, wherein said control member functions in concert with a staractivated into rotation by a push-piece, said star being ganged to acontrol element functioning in concert with a pin fastened to thecontrol member against a spring force, the whole so behaving that duringsuccessive rotations of said star, initiated by the push-piece, thecontrol member rotates alternately to-and-fro between active andinactive positions, and vice-versa.
 8. A watch according to claim 5,characterized in that the control member is provided at its peripherywith a toothed sector engaging a setting-wheel controlled by a radialstem projecting from the case and bearing a control crown at its end. 9.A watch according to claim 5, further characterized in that thedate-indicating member is peripherally provided with indentations thenumber of which corresponds to said control levers, and that each ofsaid control levers bears, at that end opposed to the one on whichpivots the corresponding date-setting commuting member, a roller whichis kept pressed against the date-indicating member periphery, so thatwhen the indentation corresponding to one of the levers is opposite theroller supported by that lever, the latter may pivot about its axis andbe brought into the active position.
 10. A watch according to claim 9,characterized in that the date-indicating member''s indentations arelocated at different levels, so that each indentation may only controlthat lever to which it corresponds.
 11. A watch according to claim 5,characterized in that each date-setting commuting member is providedwith a number of finger-pieces which is equal to the pitch-number bywhich the date-setting commuting member must cause the date-indicatingmember to advance when the former is in the active position.
 12. A watchaccording to claim 11, characterized in that the finger-pieces of eachdate-setting commuting member function in concert with the same toothingas a finger-piece of the periodic commuting piece of the calendarmechanism.